Bamboo Tower Research Center Spirals Over and Above the Amazon

Marks Barfield, a British architecture firm, have designed a research centre with a bulging bamboo observation tower for the Amazon Jungle. The centre, with over six miles of treetop bridges, would allow researchers and tourists to take a good look at the rainforest terrain at an angle so vivid that they could actually see the whole forest area and the eco-diversity it offers.

According to the architects, local bamboo would be used to construct the tower, which is designed as a series of off-centre circular decks that are linked by a spiraling central staircase.

Computer workstations can be accommodated inside the Single-storey bamboo pavilions on the forest floor. A pioneering science centre in the heart of the Amazon with more than six miles of walkways and an observation tower above the rainforest canopy is pretty much a wonderful as well as an intelligent idea.

The centre, in thevillageofXixuau, will bring together scientists from the Brazilian Amazon Research Institute and theRoyalBotanic Gardens, universities and other organizations, and is also intended to provide jobs for Brazilian tribes and attract eco-tourists.

The site is intended to appeal equally to serious research scientists and to visitors. The walkway, high above the jungle floor, will be used by researchers to study the forest terrain and by tourists to experience spectacular views.

The Amazon Charitable Trust is waiting to discover if funding for the Center will be granted by the Amazon Fund, which is backed by donations fromNorway.